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Interesting explanation from NatWest

The bank’s decision on interest will surely have customers voting with their feet

Andrew Ellson, Personal Finance Editor

July 10 2010, 1:01am, The Times

Customers of NatWest consistently tell the bank that they are not all that interested in receiving interest on their money, apparently. That, at least, is the opinion of an unidentified spokeswoman for the state-owned lender, which this week decided to stop paying interest on most current accounts.

So now we know what those lunchtime queues in NatWest branches are all about. All these years we thought it was because the bank didn’t want to invest in decent customer service, but, no, it was simply the sheer volume of customers lining up to explain that they don’t want to be paid any interest on their money.

NatWest’s faintly Orwellian analysis concluded with the statement that customers prefer “quality of service” to the payment of interest. Well,…